Cuff Luck
by Parsley
Summary: Fed up with Merric and Ellerean's constant fighting, Wendell comes up with a clever way to get his two supreme pupils to learn how to tolerate each other.
1. Chapter 1

The two young mages did not know exactly why their master had summoned them, and both were equally nervous about the punishment they were inevitably about to receive. The tension in the room was so heavy that the boys could do nothing but hang their heads and lethargically fidget with their robes - a shared habit that neither of the boys knew about each other. The mages settled into an uncomfortable silence rather than speaking to each other and the almost dead breeze blowing gently into the room from a high window in Master Wendell's quarters where they were waiting.

The architecture of Wendell's office was quite similar to the exterior of the grandiose city of Khadein, but perhaps more elegant and divine. The colors were extravagant and unique; it was like an entirely different world, fusing different aspects and treasures from neighboring countries into one unified entity. The bold curtains were lined with gold, and everything in the room seemed towering, so grand that it was intimidating. The room was clean and pristine, but messy enough with scattered books and various research - and Wendell's highly appraised magic lights hovering over his desk - for the the two mages to be certain that it was indeed their master's quarters.

Neither of the mages let out audible breaths as they waited in horror for their master to arrive and scold them. A small sniffle, masked as a meaningless sound to disguise his pain and tear-swelling eyes, escaped the younger mage. Strong, he let the blood trickle down his face from his previous run-in with Ellerean. He refused to gingerly tend to the bleeding with his sleeve. It was a game of power and strength, and Merric would not settle with unspoken inferiority to his rival.

Ellerean stood in dry anger, his nervous gaze glued to the ground before him and a bitter scowl was laced into his clenched jaw. His arms were crossed under the coziness of his blood-red robes, and his downward glare flooded with guilt and disappointment for letting his master down. Ellerean, thinking that his strike to Merric was well-deserved, thought nothing of his peer's injury. Instead, he was disgusted with himself for leaving Wendell in dismay.

Both boys felt their silent anxiety burst when they heard the distant sound of a creaking door clamoring through the hall. Ellerean looked up, feeling antsy upon the arrival of his master, but did not shift from his remorseful position. Merric lowered his head towards the ground in shame, suddenly feeling as though everything was his fault.

When the chamber doors slammed shut again, the two mages quietly awaited their incoming doom, knowing well that Wendell's words would be similar to a deadly poison injected deep into their flesh that would tear them apart from the inside out. Master Wendell had a frightening way with words, and he lashed out only upon the instance of severe disappointment or the rare occurrence of rage. His nonviolent nature caused his words to be his weapon of choice, and he certainly knew how to use them.

Wendell's ascending footsteps echoed through the hall. Unprepared for their unthinkable damnation, the mages' heads hung even lower than before. Neither could look up afraid of the look they knew they would find on their master's face. When they finally saw him, they felt even worse.

"Boys," was all Wendell said, softly. His face was shrouded in displeasure at their misdoings and his voice was slightly unsteady. Both mages had let their master down, the tone of Wendell's voice suggested that they were both to blame.

Disturbed by the silence, Ellerean was the first to slowly level his head with Wendell's. "Master -"

"Not a word from you, Ellerean," Wendell retorted sternly, causing Ellerean to back down immediately and cast his gaze towards the floor. Almost droll, Wendell continued, eliminating his usual habit of pacing, which unsettled his two apprentices. After an intimidating silence, Wendell addressed both boys. "Have I not stressed the importance of maturity and pacifism?"

The boys hesitated, unsure of how to answer their master, or if they should say anything at all. Unsettled by the long moments Wendell gave them, forcing them to think of their faults, both mages remained silent.

Wendell continued. "Brutal acts of meaningless violence should never be exercised - especially amongst your friends and fellow students. Violence breeds and grows, and I will not tolerate it from you two. Defense and creation is the only way of a mage; and I know that I have taught you that lesson well. You two should be ashamed of yourselves."

A painful silence followed.

"Ellerean," Wendell quaked, shattering the silence. Ellerean nearly succumbed to panic, but boldly raised his head to look at his master, though his gaze lingered nervously on the ground. "To stoop so low as to physically attack a fellow mage with your own hands. My pupil, whom you have known all of your life. I did not expect to see such wrath from within you, Ellerean, and I am hesitant to continue instructing you. Magic is not to be harnessed by the weak-willed."

Ellerean stayed deadly silent from his master's blow, and managed to withhold any severe reaction. Wendell shook his head, crunching his brow together in such great sorrow that shot pain to the very core of both of his pupils. Neither of them had wished to upset their master and break their promises of good behavior or loyalty; seeing Wendell disappointed as a direct result of their thoughtless actions was punishment enough.

"And Merric," Wendell continued grimly, pacing towards the green-haired mage, who sunk his head further towards the floor and scrunched his shoulders in upon being addressed. "To give in to violence upon being provoked. I thought that you were stronger than that, but perhaps I was mistaken about you - about both of you. Your use of magic as a counterattack to Ellerean's advance was unnecessary and disgraceful."

"The punishment for such a severe failure should be for me to abandon both of you as my students both of you and banish you from the city of Khadein," Wendell explained solemnly. "However, I still have faith in you boys and believe that you will be able to overcome this rivalry between you before more violence is born."

Surprised, both mages poked their heads up from their misery to glance at Wendell. Neither of the young mages spoke or objected to Wendell's hope, and they were grateful for his mercy.

"Since normal methods clearly do not work on you boys, as this incident occurred in the first place - I had no choice but to come up with something more creative for you to teach you two a lesson," Wendell said gravely, sparking a timid curiosity in both mages that nearly erased them of their pounding shame. To both mages' horror, Wendell strolled to his desk and picked up what the two boys had previously overlooked: a pair of metal shackles.

Having mentally connected the dots, Ellerean flared up in staunch denial, clearing his throat and glancing to the side in horror, not wanted to irritate Wendell. "Oh, no - _no_," Ellerean said briskly as he staggered back, suddenly feeling less in despair than he was before. Merric stayed silent, but became a couple of shades whiter as his mind imagined what horrors could possibly happen in a situation like this.

Wendell arched his brow before picking up the shackles and closing in on the boys, letting the chains rattle in his hand like a death chime. "Ellerean, you are in no position to object to this after what you have done. Silence."

Ellerean reluctantly obeyed, though the ferociousness in his glare did not die down. He was bold enough to argue Wendell's impending punishment a second time. "This will do no good! I'll strangle him," Ellerean hissed, looking at the shackles as if they were going to eat him alive. He jerked slightly away from Wendell when he approached him.

"You will _not. _Both of you need to learn how to live with your enemies in peace. I will not be letting you two slip out of this mess you have caused. You will have to make friends with your enemies and perhaps some respect."

"This is insane! A lesson worthy of folktales alone!" Ellerean cried.

"A lesson that both of you need," Wendell snapped. "Hold your tongue, my boy."

Not another word was spoken in their wake, and Wendell administered his clever punishment. One shackle was tightly fastened around Ellerean's wrist and the other around Merric's, whose arm was hanging limp as if he had entirely broken.

Looking satisfied and sympathetic altogether, Wendell continued, "If I see or hear about but one act of the slightest violence between either of you, the punishment will be much more severe and you will no longer be my students." Before the boys could even nod to agree to this, Wendell began casting a spell that neither of them recognized. He directed it towards the chain binding them together; most likely enforcing spell that would not allow the chain to break with material items or simple magic. The chain grew uncomfortably warm and glowed cyan before reverting back to normal after the spell had been cast. Ellerean's eyes flickered with maniacal wrath.

"Farewell and good luck, my boys. I believe that the time it will take you to destroy this chain will be enough for you to learn to befriend each other," Wendell said with a nod, dismissing them with a sorrowful look in his old eyes. "I trust that you will not disappoint me this time and hope that you two both realize that I am doing this because I care about you."

"Thank you mast-" Merric had started in mournful respect, but was violently yanked away by Ellerean, who had furiously turned to leave. Merric struggled to regain his balance and awkwardly trailed behind Ellerean like a dog on a leash. He wanted to scream about how horrible this punishment would be, but kept his composure for the time being, not wanting to show any weakness to his master or Ellerean. The one thought that plagued his mind was that he could not be bested by a corrupt fool like Ellerean, and would do anything in his power to not let the other mage control him.

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><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or these three lovely mages!<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

"I cannot live like this!" Ellerean cried for the hundredth time that day, fuming from being in Merric's direct presence for far too long. Even Merric, who was usually able to remain calm around Ellerean, was becoming aggravated at the other mage's constant whining.

"Obviously," Merric replied through gritted teeth. The two mages sat together on a bench in the courtyard, watching the dead desert scenery in a pathetic attempt to avoid each other as their hatred boiled stronger.

Spontaneously turning to Merric, Ellerean snapped, "Think of something, then! After all, _you're_ master's brilliant prodigy student."

Jealously marked his words more than the mockery he had intended, and Ellerean let out an melodramatic huff. He furiously tapped his hand against the stone bench, causing the chain binding them together to jingle furiously in an unpleasant reminder that they were stuck together.

"It's hard to think at all when you're being an impatient prat," Merric eventually said.

"Fine," Ellerean scoffed, his glare focused on Merric now. "I will suggest another plausible idea and have it immediately declined - yet again - by the great, powerful, and omniscient Merric, who won't listen to anyone else to save his-"

"Be quiet!" Merric hissed, squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to find inner peace.

Smirking softly at Merric's negative reaction, Ellerean taunted, "Are you going to disobey Master Wendell's direct orders, Merric? I'm sure you're just _dying _to get your revenge on me for that nice bruise I gave you."

"Just stop," Merric grumbled, already considering that option. His head was throbbing and he wanted nothing more than to get away from Ellerean forever. "Let's come up with something together to at least make this more tolerable."

Ellerean had not heard Merric's forceful words, as his eyes were fixated on a figure in the distance. Pursing his lips, it occurred to him that all of the other mages in Khadein would soon know about their shameful punishment, and that the public humiliation was probably also part of Wendell's ploy. Silently cursing as the mage came closer, Ellerean grabbed a handful of the chain close to Merric's cuff and smashed his hand against the bench, causing Merric to do the same. He swiftly flicked his cloak over the chain binding them, causing Merric to shoot him a confused look of rage.

The mage strolling closer to the two looked puzzled, so much that he stopped. He hesitated to greet his fellow apprentices, as it was common knowledge that the two loathed each other. Seeing them sitting together was baffling. Before the apprentice could think of the words to greet them, Ellerean's short temper flared up. "Leave us!" he barked, causing the mage to pale a bit before snapping out of his stunned stare. Recoiling backwards, he began to flee.

The look on the apprentice's face caused blood to dart to Merric's cheeks. Thinking fast, the flustered Merric began in startled embarrassment, "Oh! We're not..." He angrily gave up, as the mage was already out of ear-shot. In exchange, he gave Ellerean a flustered look of confused horror.

"Ellerean," Merric hissed quietly. "Are you plotting to destroy both of our reputations?"

Annoyed, Ellerean haughtily snorted, "I refuse to flaunt to the world such a humiliating punishment!"

"Is your pride more important than your reputation? You just made it look like we were holding hands!" Merric howled, staring off into the direction in which their fellow apprentice had ran.

Realizing what he had done, Ellerean brutally cursed every god he could think of under his breath. Showing that he no longer cared about his pride in the matter, he dramatically yanked the chain out so that is was completely visible on top of their robes, harming Merric's wrist in the rough process. There was a brief silence before either of them spoke again.

Embarrassment directly fueling his rage, Ellerean cleared his throat. "Since you're so obsessed with forming a plan, why don't we go to the library and try to figure out if there is a spell to break this infernal chain," Ellerean snapped, trying to forget about his traumatizing mistake.

It was the first thing he had said that Merric had agreed with. Awkwardly, the two mages stood up and began to head towards the library, Merric letting out a tiny yelp of pain when Ellerean decided to jolt the chain for no reason at all.

"You don't have to drag me like this, you know," Merric fiercely complained as he stumbled behind Ellerean, whose eyes pierced his destination in determination.

"Walk faster, then."

"There's no reason to run everywhere."

"Are you seriously suggesting that we are not in a hurry?" Ellerean inquired, before letting out a cold laugh. He abruptly stopped and faced Merric, causing the younger mage to run into him and the chain to rattle. "Maybe it's different in that broken head of yours, but I hate you and find it rather unpleasant that my sanity is slowly draining due to being literally attached to you."

Ellerean slowed down as he continued towards the library and violently rattled the chain that kept them connected as he stormed off. "We have no time to waste!"

Agreeing, Merric stayed quiet. Ellerean seemed to no longer care about being discreet about the punishment, and just wanted to break the chain as fast as possible. Merric, however, had a feeling that it would be impossible to break the chain so soon - as patience was one of the lessons Master Wendell was trying to teach them.

Ignoring everyone and growing more irate with the many stares they were receiving, Ellerean shot in the library, looking more aggravated than usual. Intimidated glanced naturally found their way on the chain binding them together. He marched obnoxiously to the center of the study, dragging Merric behind him.

Raising her brow, the mage who was responsible for organizing and collecting knowledge in Khadein's grand library looked at Ellerean. Her eyes naturally drifted towards the chain connecting him to Merric. She said nothing, as if waiting for an explanation.

"I need to find a spell that can cut through enchanted metal. A new spell," Ellerean spat. Upon stopping, Merric pulled himself back to balance using the chain, almost causing Ellerean to fall to the ground as well. He gave him a nasty look that caused him to submissively look away.

"I can see that," the mage replied, looking boredly concerned. She did not question how in the world something like this happened and murmured, "I'll see what I can do."

Growing aggravated as the mage wandered off, Merric spouted, "Ellerean, you're a fool if you actually think this is going to work, Master Wendell -"

Ellerean ignored Merric and followed the mage deeper into the library. Merric became more frustrated than he had been that day and ceased speaking. Not knowing what else to do, Merric darted in front of Ellerean to cut him off in order for him to take notice of him, almost causing Ellerean to trip. Furious, Ellerean growled, "What do you want?"

"I can't stay here forever if we can't find a solution. I have things to do and this is not going to work, Ellerean. You're wasting our time!"

Pursing his lips, Ellerean chose to ignore Merric again and pushed him out of the way in attempts to continue following the other mage. Angry, Merric made a face and impatiently tapped his foot against the ground, intending not to budge. Unfortunately, Ellerean was stronger than him, and with great effort, ended up heaving Merric by the chain to force him to follow.

They were causing quite the scene.

The mage running the library seemed too annoyed to help the boys any longer, and promptly cleared her throat. Stretching her arm out to direct the two boys, she said, "This is where we keep the newest spell books of the archive. Try not to break anything or make too much noise." After a threatening glare, she walked away.

Ellerean dragged Merric to the first shelf he could find, loosely scanning it. He did not hesitate to immediately begin his search. Ellerean's way of finding a spell was disorganized and chaotic. He would flip briefly through random spell books of his choosing, before becoming frustrated and violently discarding them.

Merric tolerated this behavior for a long time before he eventually could not stand it anymore. "What are you even looking for?" Merric insisted skeptically.

"A solution, unlike you," Ellerean snapped, picking up yet another book. He carelessly paged through it, causing the chain binding them together to rattle once more. "Master Wendell probably used an old spell that can be easily broken with a new spell."

Frustrated, Merric cried, "Do you honestly think that this is going to work? Did you even watch Master Wendell cast that spell? It was beyond our magical abilities!"

"It looked like an outdated spell to me; nothing more." Ellerean let out an anguished noise of frustration. "You are so infuriating; can you just stay quiet?"

"No!" Merric refused stubbornly, his level voice becoming louder. "Your idea and the approach your using to execute it is absolutely horrible and clearly not working - it's a waste of time for both of us, Ellerean. Just admit that your idea was wrong so that we can move on to try something else."

His icy eyes narrowed. "We've barely been here. If we keep running around barely scratching the surface with a million different ideas, then will will just assume that none of them work and be stuck together forever. Let's find out for sure that something is not going to work before we abandon it. I know it's tedious, but it's the most efficient way to get you the hell off of me."

Merric was surprised that Ellerean's tone was no longer completely hostile. Hesitating, Merric said, "Fine. But we have to stop leafing through these books and try something else - then we can begin to be thorough with something actually productive."

"Such as?"

His eyes cast towards the ceiling in contemplation. Tone licked with pleasure, Merric suggested, "Why don't we try meditating in the garden? That certainly seems like something Master Wendell would tell us to do. If nothing, it will clear our minds."

Ellerean scoffed, wanting to cross his arms, but stopped upon hearing the chain rattle. "No," he growled bluntly, slowly becoming furious again.

Pausing, Merric tried to come up with something more effective. "Why don't we try using some spells we already know? Maybe if we combined them, the power between the two of us would break the chain."

Ellerean did not seem particularly fond of agreeing to one of Merric's suggestions. However, he liked the idea of using magic to vent some of his overflowing rage, and agreed. Magic as such was strictly prohibited in the library, however, and the two mages had already caused enough trouble to be able to bend the rules. Slamming the spell book he was holding shut, Ellerean promptly stated, "We are coming straight back here as soon as your idea fails us."

At that, the two mages weaved made their way out of the library. Ellerean had tidied up the mess he had made after continuous pestering from Merric about keeping the library clean so that they would be allowed to return there.

Outside, it came to both boys' attention that nightfall was quickly approaching. With horror, Ellerean realized that he had not thought something major through: sleep and his ability to do so. Stubbornly assuming that they would have broken the chain by now, he did not even consider what would happen when a day had passed with absolutely no progress.

Ellerean knew one thing for sure: there was no way in Archanea he was letting Merric anywhere close to his quarters.

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><p>Disclaimer: I still don't own Merric, Ellerean, Wendell, any of the faceless Khadein mage units, or anything relating to Fire Emblem.<p> 


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